Voting above the line? Read this.

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Roughly 95% of Australians vote above the line in the senate. This makes voting far easier and gives considerable negotiating power to the party you vote for. The downside is that many people are unaware of how their favourite party distributes preferences and may not agree with where their vote ends up. The table below makes it easier for people to figure out what will happen to their senate vote. The information is from the Australian Electoral Commission website. It is based on the senate group voting tickets provided by each party in NSW for the 2007 federal election (other state senate tickets are likely to be very similar – check the AEC website if you have concerns http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/federal_elections/2007/candidates/gvt.htm).

Each party that was registered in NSW is listed on the left and the numbers to the right indicate how it ranks the seven major parties. The seven parties were chosen because they all currently have sitting senators, or did so until recently in the case of One Nation. However you vote, your ballot paper will probably end up in the pile belonging to one of these seven parties. Remember that your vote can count towards the election of several senators – if your first choice has double the necessary number of votes to get elected, he is elected and your ballot paper is passed to your next choice, but has half it’s original value. So make sure you agree with at least the first few rankings, especially if you vote for Labor or the Coalition. Where more than one ranking is indicated, your vote will be split evenly in two or three ways. This is because parties are allowed to submit up to three equally weighted senate tickets.

For those who typically vote below the line, an above the line vote is worth considering if you can find a party whose policies and preference allocations you approve of. This has the advantage of sending a stronger message with your vote and also of greatly increasing the negotiating power of the party you vote for. The larger the block of votes under a party’s control, the more eager other parties will be to exchange good preference allocations and the more attention the party will get from both the media and the major parties. Of course, never sacrifice your preference allocations for your party.

Note that you may vote both above and below the line in the senate. Your below the line vote takes precedence, unless it is informal. This could be a good ‘backup strategy’ if you are concerned about the validity of your below the line vote.

	Democrats	Greens	Labor	Family First	Liberal	National	One Nation
Democrats	1	2	3	7	4	5	6
Socialist Alliance	3	1	2	6	4	5	7
Pauline	7	6	5	2	3	4	1
ALP	3	2	1	4	5	6	7
Liberal/Nationals (coalition)	4	5	6	3	1	2	7
Citizens Electoral Council	3	7	6	5	1	2	4
Non-Custodial Parents	5	7	6	1	3	4	2
Greens	2	1	3	4	6	7	5
Christian Democrats, Family First	6	7	5	1	3	4	2
Fishing	5	7	6	1	2	3	4
Climate Change Coalition	1	2	5	3	6	7	4
What Women Want	2	1	3	6	4	5	7
LDP	2	7	5	1	4	6	3
Hear our voice	1	5	4	2	6	7	3
Senator Online	1	2	3	6	4	5	7
Conservatives for Climate and Environment	6	5	7	1	3	4	2
DLP - Democratic Labor Party	5	7	4	1	2	3	6
One Nation, Shooters, Fishing and Lifestyle	6	7	5	2	3	4	1
Socialist Equality	6/2/5	5/1/4	1/4/7	4/7/3	2/5/1	3/6/2	7/3/6
Carers Alliance	1	3/4	2	5	3/4	7	6

Note that the Liberals and Nationals submitted a combined ticket, with the Nationals candidates in second and fourth place. Most other parties followed suit when ranking coalition candidates.

If you disagree with your favourite party's rankings, contact the party and let them know. They most likely obtained significant concessions from higher ranked parties, or made a preference deal that would increase the likelihood of each getting elected.

Unaffiliated candidates, independent candidates and party tickets from other states will be added on request.

Remember, make sure you read the instructions carefully on election day.

Changes since 2004

Thirteen parties are no longer running: New Country, The Great Australians, Ex-Service, Service & Veterans Party, HEMP, liberals for forests, Lower Excise Fuel and Beer Party, Australians Against Further Immigration, Nuclear Disarmament, Progressive Labour Party, Save the ADI Site, Outdoor Recreation, No GST, Australian Progressive Alliance.

There are twelve new parties: Climate Change Coalition, What Women Want, LDP, Hear our voice, Senator Online, Conservatives for Climate and Environment, DLP - Democratic Labor Party, One Nation, Australian Shooters party, Australian Fishing and Lifestyle Party, Socialist Equality Party, Carers Alliance.

Of the eleven parties who also ran in 2004, all but three (ALP, Coalition and Socialist Alliance) have changed their preferences for the selected major parties. Fortunately there has been a tendency to abandon the use of multiple tickets, with only two of the new parties continuing the practice.

The preferences from the last election: